Paraoakan: The Heaviest Philippine Native Line Anybody Has Actually Weighed
20–50Eggs
Recalled, not measured, recalled by 96 raisers across seven municipalities. Tuquero FML (2026), August 2026.
2.3 kgMature weight, rooster
Journal measurement, adult. Tuquero FML (2026), August 2026.
1.67 kgMature weight, hen
Journal measurement, adult. Tuquero FML (2026), August 2026.
not publishedTo market
What the survey records is a raiser preference, 4 to 6 months at 1.0 to 1.5 kg live, not a measurement of when a bird reaches a weight.
Native typeFree-range standard
Named in PNS/BAFS 262:2018. Slaughter not earlier than 90 days.
The short answer
Paraoakan is the Palawan line, and it is the heaviest Philippine native chicken anybody has published a real weight for: 2.3 kg roosters, 1.67 kg hens. Sinukat po iyan, hindi tinantiya. The egg numbers in the same paper are a different kind of thing entirely, kasi hindi sinukat ang mga iyon.
Source Tuquero FML (2026), The Palawan Scientist 18(1):216-228 (read on August 22, 2026)
Two halves of one study, and only one of them is a measurement
Tuquero (2026) surveyed 96 raisers across seven Palawan municipalities and did two separate jobs. The birds were measured. The production history was asked about.
| Measured on the birds | Rooster | Hen |
|---|---|---|
| Body weight | 2.3 kg | 1.67 kg |
| Body length | 40.83 cm | 36.90 cm |
| Chest circumference | 35.35 cm | 31.63 cm |
| Shank length | 9.98 cm | 8.44 cm |
| Wingspan | 43.90 cm | 43.10 cm |
| Reported by raisers, from memory | Figure |
|---|---|
| Eggs per year | 20–50 |
| Laying peak | 6–8 months |
| Hatchability | 86.57% |
| Slaughter weight | 1.0–1.5 kg |
| Carcass yield | 0.5 kg average |
| Dressing percentage | 50–66% |
The first table has a weighing scale behind it. The second has a questionnaire, and the paper says so itself.
Why the difference matters more here than anywhere else
Recalled figures are not worthless. They are the only description of a manok nobody has funded a trial on, at mas mabuti pa rin iyon kaysa sa katahimikan. What they cannot do is carry a plan.
Look at the two weight figures together and the problem shows. The measured adult rooster is 2.3 kg. The recalled slaughter weight is 1.0 to 1.5 kg. Those two do not contradict each other, since not every bird is sold as a full-grown cock. But a keeper reading fast will take the bigger figure as the one they get paid on, at ang mas maliit po ang totoo.
And the recalled hatchability, 86.57 per cent, sits next to a measured Philippine native hatchability of 41.01 per cent from the eight-month Bolinao trial in Abra. Both are honest reports. Only one of them put eggs into an incubator and counted what came out.
| Adult body weight | Measured2.3 kg male and 1.67 kg female, from birds weighed in seven Palawan municipalities, Tuquero (2026). |
|---|---|
| Body measurements | MeasuredLength, chest circumference, shank and wingspan for both sexes. These are the columns DOST-PCAARRD collects for its own four lines and does not publish. |
| Eggs, hatchability, dressing | Recalled by 96 raisersUseful as a picture of Palawan practice. Not a basis for a hatch plan or an income projection. |
| Growth curve, feed intake, FCR | Not publishedNothing at any age between day-old and adult. Day-old weight is 23.96 g, carried by Nombrefia et al. (2023) from Lambio (2010). |
Where it sits against the other lines
Paraoakan is outside the DOST-PCAARRD breed information system, so it has no fertility, egg weight or age-at-first-egg figure of the kind Darag and ZamPen carry. It has no growth curve either, unlike Boholano.
What it has instead is the thing every other Philippine native line is missing: an adult timbang off a scale, sa isang totoong timbangan. At 2.3 kg for a cock it is heavier than the measured Caraga black at 1.9 kg, and it is the only line where a keeper choosing a meat bird has any Philippine number at all to hold. One figure, one province, one study. It is still one more than the four documented lines have between them.
Questions people actually ask
How much does a Paraoakan chicken weigh?
Roosters averaged 2.3 kg and hens 1.67 kg in the phenotypic characterization published by Tuquero (2026) across seven Palawan municipalities. Those are measured weights, which makes Paraoakan one of only two Philippine native lines with an adult figure in print.
How many eggs does a Paraoakan hen lay? Show the answer
The study reports 20 to 50 eggs per year with laying peaking at 6 to 8 months, and states plainly that the production figures are what raisers recalled rather than what the study measured. Treat that range as a report of belief, not a measurement.
What is the dressing percentage of a Paraoakan? Show the answer
The same paper gives a slaughter weight of 1.0 to 1.5 kg, an average carcass yield of 0.5 kg and a dressing percentage of 50 to 66 per cent. These sit in the recalled half of the study, so they describe what Palawan raisers say they get.
Is Paraoakan in the DOST-PCAARRD breed system? Show the answer
No. The breed information system covers Darag, ZamPen, Camarines and Boholano only. Paraoakan has no entry there, which is why the Palawan study is the whole published record for it apart from a day-old weight of 23.96 g carried from Lambio (2010).